On The Brink of Everything
Grace, Gravity, and Getting Old
by Parker Palmer
A new book study from
The Wisdom Years – Spirituality for the Last Third of Our Lives
Thursdays, 4 p.m. (Central time) on Zoom
8 weeks starting October 15
(Ending Dec. 10. Not meeting on Thanksgiving, Nov. 26)
In essays, poetry, and reflections on life gathered over his 80 years, master writer Parker Palmer invites us to travel this last season of our lives with courage, clarity, and an expectation of joy and peace. Palmer is concerned with finding meaning in what our lives offer us now and gleaning from our histories all that has made us who God created us to be.
Our format will be reading and reflecting on a chapter each week on our own, then gathering in small groups to process what our souls have revealed to us. We will not offer advice or pronouncements, but will glean insights by listening to each other. Groups will be gently structured to allow each person time and space to offer reflections.
And stick around after the study each week for Happy Half-Hour, 5 to 5:30 pm. Bring the beverage of your choice.
In the eight weeks of our inquiry we will look at:
Prelude – reframing aging as a passage of discovery and engagement, not decline and inaction.
The View from the Brink – keeping our eyes open and asking the right questions
Young and Old – young and old connecting are like poles of a battery – energy is released
Getting Real – the spiritual life as an endless effort to penetrate illusion and touch reality
Work and Vocation – not the jobs by which we made a living, but the callings by which meaning becomes possible
Keep Reaching Out – staying engaged with the world
Keep Reaching In – staying engaged with our souls
Over the Edge – what happens when we die?
To purchase a book from St. Mark’s Bookstore and have it mailed to your home, contact Carla Pineda at carlaleedpineda@gmail.com. Or purchase a book on your own.
To join this study or if you have questions: send an email to Marjorie George at marjoriegeorge62@gmail.com. Forward this notice to others you know of who might like to join us.
To learn more about The Wisdom Years – wisdomyears.org.
Do not now seek the answers which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them and the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answers. – Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet
The Wisdom Years 